Apparatus for heating and drying staves.



PATENTE) MAR. 14., 1905.

0. ELLIS. APPARATUS POR HEATING AND DRYING STAVES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1904..

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the material traveling on the plates.

No. l784,666.

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND DRYING STAVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,666, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed August 8, 1904. Serial No. 219,916.

To (all 107mmJ t 71u01/ concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER LEsLI ELLIs, director of the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers, (1900,) Limited, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Dixon House, 72 Fenchurch street, in the city of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Heating' and Drying Staves and the Like, of which the following is a specification.

According to this invention the staves of 4which the cask is made, after being jointed, are passed into air or waste g'ases heated to a temperature of. between l5()O and 30()O Fahrenheit. The length of time it is necessary for the staves to remain in the heated air or gases depends on their condition and the temperature of the gases; but ordinarily-that is, unless the staves are very damptwo and onehalf minutes at a temperature of 250O will suffice. While the staves are still hot they are placed together and bent, so as to form them into casks.

The apparatus it is preferred to use consists of a long chamber, in or below which are one or more furnaces, whose products of combustion pass along the chamber to a chimney at its end. Above the furnace or furnaces and through the whole length of the chamber are iron plates carried on rails running longitudinally up the chamber, such rails being in turn supported by cI'oss-girders. The iron plates extend to within about six inches of each wall of the chamber, this space being left to allow the hot gases to pass u p and over At the furnaces the plates are carried into the Wall of the chamber to protect the material from immediate contact with the fire. On these iron plates run an endless chain or chains, carried on sprocket-wheels fixed at each end of the chamber. The driving may be from either end, the sprocket-wheels at the driving' end being connected by means of spur-gearing and cone-pulleys to the driving apparatus. rIhe sprocket-wheels at the opposite end have va compensating balance and are carried on a hinged frame which is connected to a balanceweight, thereby keeping' the sprocket-chains to the required tautness. The staves are fed onto the moving sprocket chain or chains and passing through the hot g'ases for the whole length of the chamber are delivered at the other end. W'hile the stares are still het they are made up into casks. By this method the staves are uniformly dried and heated to the proper degree with certainty at a less cost than by any other known method. .lhe casks are more durable, and when sent to a hot climate or when lilled with commodities which are or Inay become heated the staves will not shrink and allow the contents vto escape, as now frequently happens.

The drawings illustrate apparatus made in accordance with this invention.

Figure 1 isaside elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line A A, Fig. '1, and Figf 4 a similar section on the line B B to a larger scale.

a is the long chamber, and L the furnaces whose products of combustion pass along it to the Ychimney e. (Shown in Eig. 2.)

l represents the iron plates supported on I'ails e, which in turn are supported by transverse rails f, which plates extend across the whole width of the chamber at the furnaces, but leaves spaces g between their edges and the walls of the chamber Vfor the remainder of their extent.

l1, /L are the chains passing over sprocketwheels e' t' and 7' y' at each end of the chamber a, the sprocket-wheels v1 t' being' driven by spur-gearing if; throug'h cone-pulleys Z. The sprocket-wheels jj are carried by a hinged Vframe my, which is connected to a weight 11,

thereby keeping the sprocket-chains to the required tautness.

'Ihe endless chains /t t move above the plates Z and return through the flue o, passing' through holes j) p in the side walls Of the furnaces.

I do not herein claim the process of treating staves, consisting' in jointing the staves, passing them into gases heated to a temperature of between 150O and 300O Fahrenheit, and then while hot forming them into a cask, as

such a claim is made in my application for patent, Serial No. 240,934, filed January 13, 1905.

l claim` n 1. Apparatus for drying staves consisting' of a long chamber, a furnace whose products ol combustion pass along' the chamber, a plate running longitudinally up the chamber of less width than the chamber except where it passes above the furnace, an endless chain passing' over the plate, and means for actuating the chain.

2. Apparatus for drying staves consisting of a longI chamber, a furnace whose products of combustion pass along the chamber, a plate running longitudinally up the chamber ot' less wid th than the chamber, except where it passes above the furnace, an endless chain passing' over the plate, sprocket-Wheels at each end of the chamber engaging' the chain, and means 

